Heliotrope
by Pemuldaby
Summary: Why? What made their love so different?


**A/N: Yesh, I am still alive. :D Just please don't kill me for suddenly dropping off the face of the earth. D: That would be bad for me.**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto! Just my sad excuses for fanfiction… D:

* * *

A sob escaped Ino's lips. Crystal tears flowed down her face, wetting her cheeks, causing them to gleam in the soft ivory moonlight. The distance stars twinkled in the midnight blue sky as her knees made contact with the green grass. Her tears began to fall more freely; drops were dotting her deep blue jeans and pale, pink, knitted top. Blonde hair flew with the wind while she brought her shaking arms to cover her face.

_Why? _She thought despairingly. _Why can't Gaara just take some time out to spend Valentine's Day with me? It's our first anniversary of finally being together…so why can't he be here with me? _

Gaara couldn't make it. _Again._ She had called him, positive that he would be able to make the time to spend the day together tomorrow… She asked him, and he said he couldn't come. It would've been fine if it were just a movie date or something like that, but their first year anniversary? Which happened to be Valentine's Day? Ino understood what that he was the president of one of the biggest companies in the world, so it was only natural that he was busy, but this went too far. Sure, he spent Christmas with her and even Halloween (his company had a huge Halloween celebration, courtesy of Kankuro, don't ask why), but she would give up pretty much anything if it meant Gaara spending Valentine's Day with her. Even if it was for a few minutes.

Ino's thoughts veered off the course of the times and memories of Gaara and her and onto the love life of her close friends. Why was life so unfair? Both Uchiha brothers were engaged, just like Hyuuga Neji. Hinata and Naruto had been dating for a fairly long time, and Shikamaru finally admitted that he was planning to propose to Temari. Out of the pair, there's one, at least one, of them that have responsibilities with a fairly large and successful company, yet _both_ have time for each other. Everybody had somebody else to share their life with, and they're all happy. Except her.

Ino _knew_ she found her one and only true love when her sky blue eyes met Gaara's jade green orbs. But now? To tell the truth, Ino wasn't too sure about Gaara's feelings toward her. She was positive that Gaara would do anything in his power to ensure that he would be able to spend time with her. Seems as if she was wrong.

This time, instead of a sob, a sigh escaped from her lips.

If Gaara couldn't make it, then he couldn't make it. There was nothing that she could do.

Ino picked herself up slowly. She was still trembling from her cries, so her steps were unstable. It was already eight; she might as well go home and sleep. Then again, it'd be hard to sleep, with the thoughts of Gaara whirling around in her head. Might as well make some flower arrangements so she won't have to do them tomorrow. But then she's going to have nothing to do tomorrow – everybody else will be out with their soul mates…

As she finished that last musing, Ino realized that she had arrived in the dimly lit hallway of her apartment building. Her hand reached for the key to unlock the door to her apartment. Ino paused for a second, thinking, _Maybe, just maybe, I should end it with Gaara…_she pushed that possibility to the back of her mind. The decision will be made later. The key slipped into the lock, and Ino twisted slowly it slowly, unlocking the door.

She stepped into her apartment, and slipped her shoes off and made her way into the cozy family/living room. Flopping onto the couch, for once Ino didn't bother to change into her nightgown. Her pink sweater was taken off, revealing a pale blue tank top over a plain white shirt. Ino frowned before dragging herself to her room where she put on her penguin PJ pants on. Her soft and fluffy pillow was pulled off of her bed, and she fished a blanket out of her closet. Ino made a bed out the couch, not wanting to sleep in her own bed because Gaara had slept over a few days ago and his scent still lingered there.

Snuggling herself deep into her blanket, Ino drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Ino slowly blinked her eyes open as a flowery scent met her nose, which was absolutely no surprise. She often made flower arrangements at home, as that was her hobby (other than shopping, of course!). There were flowers decorating every room in the apartment, so it was always smelling like a flower shop.

Blue eyes wandered around to see a petal. Well, petals of a white carnation. Confusion lit up in Ino's eyes. She didn't remember using white carnations in any of her bouquets, for white carnations meant innocence, and pure, sweet love. So why was there a trail of whit carnation petals mixed with daisy and red camellia petals? Why? Ino shook her head, attempting to clear the mystery, but it was no use, no use at all. Her mind was still thinking about Gaara. Her eyes darted to the clock resting on the wall; it was almost eleven-thirty.

Ino's eyebrows furrowed as she eyed the trail of petals lead to her room. It couldn't be Gaara… he had told her that he wouldn't find any time to leave the office. He stated that he had a lot of paperwork to go through and a couple of meetings too…

The clock ticked as steady as ever. _Tick, tock. Tick, tick. _Their anniversary, Valentine's Day, was so near, yet so far. It was almost painful for Ino to walk toward the door of her room. She closed her eyes, desperately hoping that this was an illusion, a dream. Long, slim fingers neared the doorknob and froze. She couldn't do this. She couldn't do this. She couldn't do this. Ino's fingers, disobeying her brain and listening to her heart, continued their way to the doorknob of her bedroom. They closed around it tightly and pushed it open.

She smelled the fragrance of a hyacinth. Could it be…? Ino opened her eyes bit by bit to see a purple hyacinth in front of her face. And who was holding it with a light blush on his face? No other then Gaara – the reason that Ino had shed her tears.

A gasp was heard before Ino said, "A purple hyacinth?"

A slight frown was etched on Gaara's usual emotional face as he breathed out, "Yes, Ino. I'm sorry. Forgive me?"

A sob escaped Ino's lips, but this time, it was a sob of happiness. She leapt into Gaara's arms, who caught her deftly, still managing to keep the beautiful purple hyacinth in his hands.

"I'm so sorry, Ino." Gaara murmured softly into her ear. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

A smile mad its way to Ino's face while tears cascaded down her face.

Even though no words left Ino's mouth, Gaara knew he was forgiven. Just like Ino, a small smile appeared on Gaara's face as he put Ino onto her bed, facing him, as he pulled out a red chrysanthemum.

"Oh, Gaara!" Ino cried out as she saw the flower that represented 'I love you'. "I'm sorry – "

"Ino, how many times do I have to say this?" Gaara whispered. "_I'm _the one who's sorry." And he lifted Ino up by the waist and turned her around to see what lied on her bed other then the sky blue and jade green sheets, covers, and pillows.

"Gaara…" Ino breathed as she stared at the magnificent arrangement of flowers that sat on her bed. "You did this _all_ by yourself?"

Worry was clear in Gaara's orbs. "You…you don't like it?"

"Of course I don't like it!" Ino giggled lightly at Gaara's crestfallen face. "I love it!"

Everything about Gaara completely lighted up after Ino uttered the words of the previous sentence. "You do?"

Laughter that sounded like the tinkling of bells filled that air as Ino replied, "Don't be silly, Gaara, of course I do! It's the complete definition of perfect!"

Gaara turned Ino, who was still in his embrace, around to plant a soft kiss on her lips that left her a bit dazed. "Ino?"

"Mhmm…?"

"Did I ever tell you that I was sorry?"

"Gaa_ra!_ You say that again, and you will _not_ be-"

"Look in the flowers, Ino." Gaara stated while removing his arms around her.

Ino obliged and jumped onto her bed to search for whatever Gaara had wanted her to find. A soft smile that reached her eyes made its way to her face as she recognized the flowers that Gaara had put together for her. There were pink and white roses, red roses, ambrosias, forget-me-nots, orange blossoms, and orchids. Toward the center were jonquils, asters, arbutus, and primrose. Gloxinias surrounded the lone blossom of a heliotrope – the flower of eternal love.

The clock struck twelve.

"Happy Valentines Day, Ino."

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, it was a **_**totally**_** random one-shot that popped into head on the airplane. Was it good? It'd be nice if could give me some advice; my writing definitely has room for improvement! :) Should I make a second part? If you guys want me to, I probably will – it'll just take some time for it to get out~**

**I'm also going to end up revising this again…it's nowhere no perfect yet.**

**By the way, the meaning of the flowers in this one-shot are listed below in alphabetical order if you're wondering what they meant.**

**Ambrosia – Your love is reciprocated**

**Arbutus – Thee only do I love**

**Asters – Daintiness, symbol of love**

**Camellia, Red – You're a flame in my heart**

**Daisies – Gentleness, innocence, loyal love**

**Forget-Me-Nots – Faithful love, memories**

**Gloxinias – Love at first sight**

**Purple Hyacinth – Apologies, I'm sorry.**

**Jonquils – Violent sympathy and desire, love me, affection returned **

**Orange Blossoms – Your purity equal your loveliness, innocence, eternal love**

**Primrose – Young love, I cannot live without you**

**Roses, Pink and White – I love you still and always will**

**Roses, Red – (Everybody should know this!) Love, desire, courage, respect, a job well done**


End file.
